


From the Ground Up

by Nectorism



Category: Assassination Classroom
Genre: Angst, Dorks in Love, Hopelessly dense characters, Hurt/Comfort, Kissing, M/M, Romance
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-10-09
Updated: 2016-10-09
Packaged: 2018-08-20 09:13:39
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,699
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8244035
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Nectorism/pseuds/Nectorism
Summary: Two years have passed since Koro-sensei death and Karma and Gakushuu are in their second year of high school.





	

Gakushuu could feel a pair of eyes trained on his back, and he was sure that it belonged to a certain red head that sat at the back of the classroom. The stare sent shivers down his spine and he was tempted to turn around and throw insults at the delinquent. Unfortunately, it was still in the middle of a lesson, so the strawberry blonde had to repress any urges to plot an excruciating death for Karma. The modern literature teacher droned in a monotone voice at the front of the classroom, reading out of a textbook that Gakushuu had already memorised. Boredom was an understatement at this point, but Gakushuu couldn't let his perfect student council demeanour slip. He opted to stare blankly at the whiteboard for the remainder of the lesson, nodding once in a while at the teacher to show that he was listening. After what seemed like eternity, the bell rang signalling the beginning of lunch break. Gakushuu let out an exasperated sigh as the teacher walked out of the classroom, bidding them to have a wonderful day.

"How can the teacher expect us to have an wonderful day-" A voice suddenly spoke to his right, and the strawberry blonde's initial reaction was to hit the offender, but the person caught the arm in mid swing casually and continued on talking nonchalantly. "-if we've got a double period of Japanese next."

"What do you want, Akabane?" The question sounded more like an statement but Gakushuu couldn't care less as he yanked his arm from Karma's vice grip. The red head wore a Cheshire cat smile and proceed to sit on Gakushuu's table, fully intending to annoy the strawberry blonde. Violet eyes were narrowed at him in response but Karma didn't get a further reaction out of Gakushuu.

"Aw, you're no fun...and call me Karma!" Karma slid of the table and stood next to the president of the student council and smirked. "It isn't healthy to keep all those pent up feelings you have for me bottled up."

"If you've got nothing better to do other than to irritate me, then I'm going to go to the cafeteria." The former principal's son packed up his belongings and stood up. There were a few lingering stares their way but the student body at Kunugigaoka High School had grown accustomed to the duo's constant bickering since entering high school, two years ago. Gakushuu and Karma had been long-term rivals even before high school and always battled for first place, so naturally, it was inevitable that they would interact. Even so, it was still strange to see the president of the student council and the school's infamous delinquent hanging out with each other.

"The food there tastes bland. How can you stand it?" Karma headed back to his own seat, pulling out his strawberry flavoured milk and a few biscuits. "The food we made in cooking classes back in Junior High were so much better."

"Speak for yourself, what you're eating right now isn't exactly an ideal lunch either. Besides, you're in high school, not Junior High anymore." Gakushuu paused as the smirk that was usually plastered to the redhead's face disappeared. The strawberry blonde immediately felt guilty for blurting out the last sentence. The year Karma spent in class 3E was still a sore topic for him to talk about, even though they were both in their sophomore years now, and two years had gone by since the incident. But Karma's wry smile came back as fast as it disappeared, although it an obvious attempt to cover up the red head's feelings.

"You're right, I shouldn't live in the past right?" Karma's laugh was rather forced, Gakushuu noted to himself as he studied the former's face. "Shouldn't you be heading to the cafeteria by now?"

Still feeling ashamed for bringing the painful topic up, the strawberry blonde walked briskly out of the classroom, but not without sparing another concerned glance at the red head. Karma sat at his desk, pondering what he was going to do for the remainder of lunch. His other friends had club activities at the moment so the red head decided to quickly finished what was left of his lunch and fished around his bag for his phone. He called the person at the top of his contacts list as soon as he found the device.

"Nagisaaaaa." Karma wailed into his phone, earning himself a moment of silence from the other end.

"What is it?" Nagisa eventually answered. "I have a feeling that this isn't going to be a pleasant conversation from the moment you shouted my name into the phone so please make it quick. My lunch ends in five minutes and I'll have to go to my next period."

"How rude, I was just proclaiming my unrequited love for you." The red head teased.

"That's it, I'm hanging up."

"No! Wait, I'm joking!"

Another sigh was heard from the receiver. "I'm giving one last chance before I blow a fuse. So what was it you wanted to talk about?"

This time, silence was heard on Karma's end and Nagisa grew worried as the silence stretched longer than what he deemed comfortable. After what seemed like a minute, Karma's spoke again, albeit quieter than before. "Have you gotten over it?"

"It?"

"You know...Koro-sensei."

Suddenly, Nagisa understood what the call was about and smiled sadly. "What happened?"

"Gakushuu brought it up during lunch."

That was all the explanation Nagisa needed. "I haven't gotten over it yet, and I doubt anyone has so far."

"But... _two_  years have passed. I feel like I'm wallowing in the past and I can't forget. Doesn't that make me weak?"

"No, that doesn't make you weak. If anything, it proves that you are human. Getting over something does not mean forgetting something. You can move on and remember the fun times we had as an class. But take your time, no one's pressuring you. Remember when Koro-sensei said that time heals all wounds? You should start heeding his advice." The sound of the bell ringing was heard on Nagisa's end and the bluenette sighed once again. "You should open up to Gakushuu. You never know, it could help. Aren't you guys like best friends or something now?"

"Eh...We talk a lot now and hang out sometimes after school but I wouldn't say we're best friends."

"Sure sure, keep telling yourself that." Nagisa snickered into the phone knowingly. "Because you  _totally_  do not talk about him every time we're on the phone. Anyways, I got to go, my next lesson is maths and my teacher gets mad if I'm late." The bluenette hung up before Karma could protest.

"Sometimes I wish I could just skip classes and go to Nagisa's school to strangle him." He grumbled to himself.

 

* * *

 

"It's rare for you to ask me out for a study session." Gakushuu slowly drawled, twirling an expensive ballpoint pen in his hands meanwhile his violet gaze was fixated upon his rival who sat directly opposite of him. The duo was currently studying in one of many study rooms located in the school's huge library. Karma had invited Gakushuu for a study session, but the strawberry blonde couldn't help but think the whole setup was extremely suspicious. When he voiced his worries out loud, the only response he got from Karma was that the latter wanted do an reconnaissance of Gakushuu's current academic skills.

"It was pretty hard to reserve this place, so you better be honoured." The red head replied without looking up from his papers, scribbling notes in a hurried frenzy.

"What sparked this sudden interest in studying and examining my academic skills?"

"Despite my reputation of being a cold-hearted delinquent, I don't plan on dropping out of school anytime soon. Not if I want to achieve my goals." The hand holding the pen halted as Karma glanced up to stare into Gakushuu's eyes. The mercury gold eyes held a vicious and determined glint. "I owe at least this much to  _him_."

Deciding not to delve into the issue any further, the strawberry blonde continued answering the questions in the textbook. It was fairly silent - save for the soft scratching of pen on paper - for the half an hour that passed before Karma threw his hands up and tugged his fiery red hair in frustration.

Raising his eyebrows, Gakushuu set down his pen and grinned smugly. "Let me see."

"No! I'll figure this one out on my own!" Karma gritted his teeth, and stared at the page blankly before promptly face planting onto the table.

Barely concealing his laughter, the former principal's son moved around the table and picked up the pen before reading the question his rival was stuck on. "The answer could be found in paragraph four in the passage...to think I've been on a losing streak with an idiot who can't even figure this out." The strawberry blonde was so engrossed in explaining the question that he hasn't realised his body was pressing against Karma's side.

"S-shut up! Japanese isn't really my strong suit." The red head was blushing with a bright shade of pink, focusing his gaze anywhere but Gakushuu.

"It's amazing that you're hopeless in Japanese but better than me in basic arithmetic. Well, considering my immense knowledge in other various fields, it's only natural somebody as unskilled as you would excel me in one of my subjects." When he didn't hear a retort the red head normally had prepared when insulted, Gakushuu looked up and noticed Karma's flushed face for the first time. The president of the student council pressed his hand to the red head's forehead, his face showing slight signs of worry. "Are you sick?"

Karma jerked away from the touch and nearly fell off the chair from the momentum. "S-sick? No, nah uh. Not sick at all! Everything is just peachy!"

"You're definitely acting suspicious."

"I'm perfectly fine! I'm neither sick or hot!"

"The most common causes of red faces are illness, elevated stress, being warm, feeling embarrassed or feeling an attraction to someone you like. But if it isn't caused by illness or being warm then-" Gakushuu paused, as he processed his own words. Karma sucked in a breath of air, feeling terrified at the aspect that Gakushuu might discover Karma's crush on him. But at the same time, he  _wanted_  the strawberry blonde to find out about it. Suddenly, Gakushuu's face seemed to light up as it came to a revelation and Karma let out the breath he held, waiting for the former's answer.

"Wait a minute. Are you possibly... _stressed?!_ "

Karma would have fallen off his chair if he wasn't being supported by the room's wall on his left side and Gakushuu on his right. He prayed to the gods above to stop toying with him as he gaped at Gakushuu's naivety.

"You're hopelessly dense." He couldn't help the comment slipping out of his mouth. The principal's son could only stare at Karma's back in confusion as the latter stormed out of the study room in silent rage.

 

* * *

 

The next time they met was right after school ended on a Friday afternoon outside a convenience store that was located near Karma's house. The weather was dark and cloudy, and distinct smell of rain lingered in the air. Their encounter in the library study room had taken place two days ago, but the details were not yet forgotten. Karma walked out of the store, plastic bags containing groceries in hand and bumped into a sturdy figure.

"Sorry-" After looking at the person's face properly, Karma immediately stepped back in surprise. "Wait, why are you here Gakushuu?"

The strawberry blonde seemed shocked at the red head's appearance too but regained his composure right away. "I could ask the same of you."

"I was just doing some last minute shopping." Karma held up the groceries in emphasis. "And answer my questions first before you ask any!"

"I was just passing by since the train station is over there." He pointed vaguely in the direction of the station. "But I guess this works in my favour because I needed to return this to you." He dug around his bag and brought out a textbook, and proceeded to hand it over to Karma. The red head's eyes widened from recognition as he read the textbook's title.

_College Freshmen Courses For Japanese Literature Unit 1_

"You left this in the study room when you abruptly ran out the other day, and I haven't had a chance these past two days to return it." Gakushuu explained as he rearranged his bag's contents and slung it over his shoulder. "College courses already huh? As expected of my long-term rival."

"It's nothing." Karma cheeks flushed a light shade of pink, but it was barely visible. "Thanks for returning it." Without warning, a droplet of rain landed on Karma's nose. A few seconds later, rain came cascading heavily down from the sky. The duo quickly took cover under the roof of the convenience store, smiling sheepishly at the store owner, who smiled back in response.

"If you two would like, there's a selection of folding umbrellas here. I'll give you a discount of ten percent if you want." The lady offered, peering at the sky outside through the windows. "It's coming down quite heavily, it's better if you quickly make a decision before the rain gets worse."

Karma nodded and grabbed a simple black umbrella before going up to the counter and paying for it. He thanked the lady again and glanced back at Gakushuu, who was busy with his phone.

"Aren't you going to buy a umbrella?" The red head questioned the other, and Gakushuu shook his head.

"No, I'm calling my father to pick me up."

"The former principal?"

"Who else could it be?" Gakushuu answered in an irritated tone and Karma rolled his eyes.

"Want to come over to my place? It's not far and let's not bother your father by making him come out in this weather." The red head pulled his crimson hair in embarrassment.

The president of the student council stared at Karma with a slightly shocked expression. "But I don't want to trouble you."

"It's no trouble at all! My parents are never home and I have plenty of guest rooms. We don't have school tomorrow anyway, so you can go home in the morning if the weather's cleared up by then."

"You sure?" Gakushuu was still skeptical but eventually agreed as the rain came pouring down harder. "Okay fine. Just let me buy an umbrella for myself."

"No need, let's share. And don't you dare argue." Karma finished as Gakushuu opened his mouth to protest.

The pair shared the umbrella all the way to Karma's house, which was no more then a few minutes away from the store. The contact they shared as they walked in the rain, huddled under the protection of the umbrella, made Gakushuu feel light-headed. He looked at Karma in his peripheral vision, taking in the boy's appearance. The last two years had been extremely kind to the red head's toned body. Karma and Gakushuu had hit their growth spurts around the same time in their freshmen year of high school, towering over more than half of the students in their year. But currently, Gakushuu held victory over the former, being an entire two centimetres taller. It was barely noticeable, but if they stood side by side to each other, it became more obvious. It wasn't that big of a deal, but anything that Gakushuu excelled over Karma in was counted as a victory in his book. Brushing off the thoughts as he realised he was staring, the strawberry blonde tried to focus his gaze elsewhere.

_Damn it Karma. Try not to be so god damn attractive will you?_

As soon as they arrived at the front porch of the Akabane residence, Karma fished out his keys from his pockets and opened the door. The strawberry blonde couldn't help but gape in awe at the house, even though it wasn't his first time here. He had came here once last year, when Karma had invited him for a rare study session before the midterms. The house was huge, albeit smaller than his, but still big nonetheless. A crystal chandelier was suspended above the tiled hallway that stretched out a few metres in front of the main entrance. They took off their shoes and wandered into the kitchen where Karma set down his bag of groceries and started up on dinner.

"You cook?" Gakushuu curiously watched as Karma prepared the ingredients.

"As you know, my parents travel around the world for work and are never home, so I had to learn necessities like this or I'd be eating microwavable foods for the rest of my life." Karma jokingly replied. "We're having pasta tonight, is that alright by you?"

"I'm down for anything. I'm going to call my father and explain the situation."

"Go ahead. Once you're done with that, you can use the shower upstairs if you want. I'll leave out a towel and a change of clothes for you later."

"Thanks again for letting me stay over for tonight." Gakushuu bowed politely before continuing to head upstairs with phone in hand.

"It's no problem at all." Karma replied with a genuine smile.

 

* * *

 

"I'll wash the dishes. You can shower now." The strawberry blonde offered, carrying the dirty bowls to the sink. He was dressed in a new set of clothes that belonged to Karma and his hair was still wet and disheveled from his earlier shower. "Thanks for the food."

"You're welcome and please do, it would be greatly appreciated." Karma yawned tiredly. "What did your dad say?"

"He sounded very amused but agreed to me staying over for tonight." Gakushuu answered in an annoyed tone and Karma laughed.

"It seems that the former chairman favours me."

"Don't get your hopes up. He's like the devil's incarnate, and won't hesitate to suck it up to somebody if it gets him an owed favour."

The red head snorted and headed upstairs for the shower meanwhile Gakushuu washed the dishes. Once they were both done with their activities, the duo sat on the sofa in the living room, flipping through channels aimlessly on the television. The atmosphere was strangely comfortable yet extremely awkward and neither of them could muster the courage to start a conversation. After a while, Karma couldn't stand the silence any longer and took the initiative to talk.

"You ready for the midterms coming up?"

"That's an absurd question. I am always ready."

"Well, excuse me for trying to make small talk." The red head hissed indigently. "What do you propose we do then?"

"Study." Gakushuu answered with an air of indifference.

"Workaholic." Karma muttered under his breath. His eyes landed on his black DS from under the coffee table, and he instantly reached her to grab it. "Do what you want." The coffee table was unfortunately positioned on Gakushuu's side of the sofa so Karma had to lean over the latter to reach his beloved DS. The red head leaned over to the side so much that he lost his balance and face planted into the strawberry blonde's lap.

_I want to die._

That was the immediate thought that sprung to mind as Karma laid motionless, too shocked to move. It seemed to be the same for Gakushuu, who had his mouth open wide in what seemed to be disbelief.

_If there's anyone listening, please grant my last dying wish and pass these messages on. To my parents, I hope I have made you proud. To my friends at school, it was nice knowing you for this brief amount of time. To my future dog, I'm sorry I never got the chance to adopt you-_

"Karma...KARMA!" The red head realised he was being shaken vigorously as he snapped out of his reverie. The strawberry blonde clicked his tongue in exasperation. "Can you please get off my lap now?"

"No. In fact, I happen to like it here so I don't mind if I stay here."

"You may not mind but I do!"

"Eh? But I thought you liked me?"

Gakushuu couldn't stand it anymore and he sighed in irritation. "If you don't get off this instant, I won't be able to hold back."

"Why would you possibly hold back against me, Second Place-kun?" Karma taunted in response, not fully aware of the situation brewing at hand.

The strawberry blonde growled as he grabbed Karma's chin and tilted it up. "You asked for it, spawn of Satan."

Lips crashed against Karma's ones and the red head's eyes nearly popped out of their sockets. There weren't any stunning fireworks exploding behind his eyelids or sparks of electric shocks sent up his spine at the contact of rough lips brushing past each other, like many romance novels claimed. Karma reminded himself never to trust, much less, read romance novels ever again. He found that he didn't quite enjoy the sensation, but he didn't completely dislike it either. A tongue prodded the entrance of his mouth and the red head let it in, allowing Gakushuu to freely explore the caverns of his mouth. Now  _this_  felt like heaven.

"Mhmm!" Karma made the motion of pushing against the other's chest as the strawberry blonde pinned the red head under himself.

Gakushuu pulled back, his violet orbs holding a guilty glint in them. "Oh god, I'm sorry. I shouldn't have done that to you-"

"Stop apologising, idiot!" Karma snapped, slightly punching the other's arms in a weak attempt to retaliate against the strong arms that pushed him down. "Next time, just give me a heads up before you decide to kiss me."

Gakushuu found himself smirking despite his inner turmoil. "Not fond of surprises are we?"

Karma matched Gakushuu's smirk with a notorious smirk of his own. "Shut up and kiss me."

No words were exchanged as they gazed at each other in mutual understanding. The silent message hung in the air, as there was no need to voice it out loud.

_I love you._


End file.
